The agreement, described in the Oakland courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, is the latest development in an unusual battle between the hospital and the girl's family, who has rejected declarations that Jahi is dead as a result of brain death.

I have to think that the necrotic brain tissue is decaying, with those degradation products seeping into the blood stream and poisoning the rest of the body. Besides, without central nervous system feedback, the remaining organs must also be decomposing.

I know this is morbid, but does anyone know how long a dead body can be maintained in such a manner? I would think that since she was declared dead on Dec. 12, it is getting close to the limit.

14
posted on 01/03/2014 4:41:14 PM PST
by exDemMom
(Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)

In the old days, we called this being in a coma. The heart continued to beat, but there was no response and (sometimes) artificial respiration was necessary.

There's a world of difference between being in a coma and being brain dead. People in comas (now referred to medically as "persistent vegetative state") still have brain activity, however little that might be. Their brains still receive oxygen from the blood. In Jahi's case, there is no cerebral activity whatsoever. Her brain is dead. It is not receiving blood circulation. It is decomposing.

Now this girl has had NO nutrition for more than three weeks. For three weeks, shes been starved while in an injured state.

A person in a coma has a living, functioning brain, and responds to certain stimuli. Sometimes, comatose people are aware of their surroundings, but are unable to communicate or move.

This girl, sadly, is not in a coma. She is dead, and her body is being kept on life support because her mother cannot accept the reality. No one ever comes back from being dead (with one historical exception).

19
posted on 01/03/2014 4:44:21 PM PST
by exDemMom
(Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)

My take on it is that this could have been avoided all together if the poor child’s family had cooked her healthy food and exercised with her. They wanted a quick fix for her sleep apnea so they had her airway enlarged. That is so sad. Quick fix for breakfast: McDonalds. Quick fix for lunch: Hot Pockets. Quick fix for supper: Dominos. Quick fix for breathing problems due to obesity: surgery. Now she’s dead and they are feeling quite guitly, prompting this nightmare for which they clearly need counciling.

If the hospital doctors had shown more compassion instead of being heartless and cold then perhaps the family would have agreed with the doctor’s reccomendation. I get the family’s rejection of it considering the inconsiderate tone from the hospital and its lawyers.

Maybe that’s it. The Grandmother is a step removed from the deceased, so she is a bit more clearheaded, just a bit, than the mother. Just maybe the Grandmmther has started to smell money from possible litigation. I think they had to release the host hospital from some if not all liability in order to re located her body. Still, that Attorney probably detects a deep pocket or two or three still available for the gouging. If they do sue someone, I suspect it will be sooner that later, in order to ride the momentum of public sentiment. This may provoke a quick settlement from the party judged to be most at fault. No one will end up satisfied when this story is finally over.

Unfortunately, that’s true of a lot of adults I know also. Instead of losing weight and exercising they’d rather take pills for their cholesteral, diabetes, etc. I know 3 women in their 50’s who have had to have their knees replaced, not because they are great athletes, but because they are overweight. None of their doctors insisted they lose weight.

My own mother supposedly has high cholesteral, high blood pressure and diabetes. She spends most of her time eating at the buffet. She quit doing any walking or exercise of any kind years ago. She is currently taking 9 medicines. My husband has become the same way. Why change his diet when he can just take pills or use a machine for his snoring.

I cant think of any local News Anchor who could say uvulopalatopharyngoplasty without slowing their read rate down to 33rpm, are they may still get it wrong, winning more ridicule. I studied to become a Medical Assistant years ago, and always had trouble with the word Sphngmomanometer; or Blood Pressure Monitor.

If she is sent to NY or some other distant locale, this family is fixing to have a tough row to hoe.

FWIW, the facility in New York that has been in the news lately, New Beginnings, is an outpatient care center operated by a former hairdresser who offers a "holistic approach" to treating traumatic brain injuries. There's not a single MD on their board of directors. Their web site informs us that they are currently soliciting donations to pay for an electronically-opening door to the entrance of their office.

When brain cells die there is generally no bacterial decomposition. The dead brain cells are liquefied and digested by other cells and the empty spaces in the head are filled with liquid.

I knew a child who suffered prenatal strokes and there were large parts of his brain just not there any more, but since he was so young he did very well - normal intelligence, delayed motor function but normalizing by seven.

“Brain death” is different from some parts of the brain bein dead or dying - it refers to no brain waves, no brain reflexes, no breathing reflex.

If there WAS bacterial decomposition, there wouldn’t be these arguments and lawsuits. Death would be rapid and indisputable - cardiac death too. Bacterial meningitis is a fast killer.

Karen Ann Quinlan was not dead. She was severely brain damaged, much like Terry Schindler. Her brain was fully alive.

A brain dead person has *no* functional brain because the brain is actually dead—no oxygenation, no blood, no energy use, no metabolism of any kind. When removed from a respirator, a brain dead person does not breathe and the heart ceases to beat shortly thereafter.

This little girl, Jahi, has been examined and determined to be brain dead. Although some of the physiological functions of life have been artificially prolonged using the ventilator and many of the tissues remain alive, she is dead. Her soul is in Heaven.

44
posted on 01/03/2014 5:37:46 PM PST
by exDemMom
(Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)

And here’s an article talking about a lawsuit that claims that as many as 1 in 5 people declared ‘brain dead’ are still alive and are being killed by the hospitals.

I’m sorry, but the drs said that I was in a PVS at birth and tried to put me in an institution. I was nonreactive for three solid months. (No reflexes, no crying, nothing) Then I came around.

My cousin was in an accident and we were told that he would have permanent brain damage. It took him a year to begin to recover, but he now has a BS, is married, and has a beautiful daughter.

I’ve had doctors tell me that nothing was wrong, then two hours later, my son’s in intensive care when I brought him back in.

This are people, not gods.

At the very least, taking away the parents’ rights and their sense of control, referring to their child as ‘the body’, is stupid and insensitive.

Just ten years ago, it was OUR choice. That’s why people were encouraged to have a DNR because they couldn’t take you off life support without it.

Now, families have NO options. No control over the situation so they can get a handle on things and manage their grief. They are being told what to do, not given options.

This is California and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a culture of death. I will side with life, thank you.

As for the whole ‘brain death’ means that the brain is rotting BS that’s being blown about on this thread, that’s not the definition of brain death. People need to read up on it. Brain death means damage to the higher (reasoning) brain or the brain stem.

46
posted on 01/03/2014 5:48:32 PM PST
by Marie
(When are they going to take back Obama's peace prize?)

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